Vessel for freight or passengers.



W, A. RUPPEBT,

VESSEL FOR 'FREGHT 0E PASSNGERS.

FILED SEM. 9, 1912,

Patented Mar. 10, i914.

IN VEA/TUR A UGH/VE 1'/ nu' raars earn Enron.

WILLIAM .ALBERT RUIJPLRT, 0F NEVI YORK, N. Y.

VESSEL FR FREIGHT 0R To ml, iii/0m it may concern:

lle it -known that l, WILLIAM rinnnn'r lnrrnu'r, a. citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, in the city and btatc of New York, have invented certain new and useful :improvement Re lating to Vessels for Freight or Passengers, of which the following a. spccilication.

It may apply usefully to a wide range of sizes of vessel. l will describe it as on a large vessel built of wood and intended mainly for the accommodation of passengers. The invention can be better applied in the act of originally buI ling` of the vessel but it may serve with a little more expense on vessels already completed.

'l have devised a way to store in the bot tom or sides of the interior of a vessel, ilexible air tight with flexible hose. connected with protections which afford finish, opening outward with gentle force. lf provide means for inliating each bag independently at will and l `employ an engine adapted to serve the double duty of pumping; air rapidly into these bags when required and of performing` other work when all is proceeding well. I provide for controlling from a sing-le pointas the Wheel house or bridge the delivery of air to the' several bags and preventing its reilow. I also provide for preventing" the loss of much air if any bag shall be ruptured.

The following' is a description of what l consider the vbest' means of carryingV out the invention. The accompanying, drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure l is a diagram in side elevation with a portion broken away to show the interior. ,Figa 2 is on a. larpl -r scale. lt is a cross section on the line 2 E in Fig. Fig. Slis a plan view on the line 3--3 in Fig. El. Fig. 4l isa horizontal section of a detail on a still larger scale, and Fig. 5 is -a `vertical section of a portion of a barr in its folded condition.

Similar letters and marks of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where they appear.

A is the hull of the vessel-4l the main deck and A2 a lower deck. Either deck is capable of holding up the vessel'and its I make in the interior of the vessel any' desired number of shallow recesses and parn Specification of Letters Patent.

lllatented Mar. 10, 1914;

Application :lied September 9, will. Serial No. 719,300.

' the direction which bounces the bag out of its recess.. lt is always ready in an emer- Kagency to more bodily and liberate the contents with ease. These shallow spaces for the bags may be on specially erected supports and they will be so shown, As are the raised edges of these spaces or recesses-fa, which hold these compacted floats ready for constant service.l

ll are flexible bags of air-tight material il au air-tight valve openinginward. lhere is ay springnot shown holding it ugly and reliably closed but ready to ll to allow air to enter thebag and be well retained.

il is a main pipe extending len 'thwise of pipes C and its branches and inliate. all the baas ll which it is allowed to reach.

'lhe bags are folded 1n large folds. The.

thin parcels thus formed may be curved to matchV in curved spaces 1n the vessel but they lic usually nearly flat. In the process of n'iamilacture or afterward before placing the bags in connection in the vessel, each fold in the several bags is defended against the formation of cracksV in the folds by inclosing therein short lengths of what I will term a packing, a soft rope of gently tvvisted cheap liber as the fine Wood shavings much used in packing, known as excelsior. Such va soft and accommodating defense P extends along the inner face of what would otherwise become a sharp fold in each bag and insures that the sharpness of the fold shall be greatly softened and the time which the several bags Will last without cracking :at the 'folds' shall -be greatly prolonged. `I

The covers E of spruce or 'other 'light Wood are made to extend across the-recep-s tacles a. refer` that these recesses and the P.

` bags which match loosely-in them shall bev between-decks, others in the'iioor of the between-decks and others may: be .K on edge in any oithe upright faces in the interior of the vessel. In the construction of 'a new vessell the places may be provided fory more than Willbe always needed7 and in 1lit='.'.in;'v

out for a .voyage only so many oi the bags and hosemay vhe supplied as are judged cxpedient for that voyage. .When certain recessesl 'are not used for bags the covers E may obviously be omitted there.

The hinges for the-covers l?, are of the Well-knownlrind easily separable by remov-v ing the ypiznvso that While in ordinary use they are 'ready .to maintain the desired hinged connection and allow the cover to rise and sinlncontrolled only by the hinges and by gravity and the slight strings which are easily brealrablle, they can also be conditionedvvith littlelabor to allow the cover to'be ycompletely' detached.

The seriesof pipes and hose C with eticient controlling valves extends lengthwise of the vessel with a separate branch to each hag.' These perform the main duty or" flo'vving'a-irfat gentle pressure to ind-ate eaci bag with vthe 'effect first to get it out off it recess and next to fill yit With air to the large extent required. I

' small hose pipes d, one 'for cach A s'etfo'r bag eztendffronrthe air-reservoir past the Wheel-'holse 'or other desired pointA for a skilful' and diligent ottlcer to stand and afford' means of control. lt the vessel as is oftenthie case inclins to be too much down by/the header by the, stern or to heel over to either side,' this control allows the vvessel to beheld very nearly upright byoeliecting the inflationl of only the required bags'. The details 'for thisA important controlg-are simple. "Each bag B has a'valve Bf? (seefig. 3) which is self-'acting'. openinginthe direction to lill thebagivith air.- ln the absence'of' any movement by the oliicer in the Wheelhouse,V the large air pump D heine; stanted--all the bagsset wind and all becomle under ordinary conditions about vequally iniiated'. 'they V"vessel is much out of level therelwill -be'interlierence by the o in the ivheel-housefhe s properY keys vllan z through 'sach ci sees ilt Q stood that others are in the ceiling` oi the bags rapidly and mesma pipes J to the respective pistons `Min the cylindersoi the valves K and allows the spring L in the Yvalve socut oli to force the piston M upwardly and thereby carry the aperture m out of line with' the sections ot the lpipes C" (see Fig. 4), thus shutting oli all communication 'with the corresponding bag B. The pump D which supplies the air .toiow through the hose C and the valves Bf may belarge, .adapted todrive large qiiantities oi air to fill all the capacious still Vrequire `but a small steam cylinderto but little resistance to the early inflation of the bags. The Water is supposed tobe rapidly risingbut hasnot yet covered the bags and only gentle pressure of' air is required withinthe pipe C to promptly brealrthe slight fastenings G and push away the covers E. lt the water did not rise to that level the will be on the lioor.V Iii on the contrary the emergency is more advanced the bag will float. andin any case, .there must always be snilicient length of hose to allow each hog to rise until it bears against somethingas the under side of a. deck above, hereafter contributing etliciently to the uplitt of the vessel and its even keel.

.ln the ordinary use of theinvention common air gently compressed will swell the bags and break the fastenings of their several recesses and lloat the vessel in definitely.

'The slight astenings G which maybe small lead Wires should always be in plainsight and ybe often inspected and kept in order ready for immediate Work. Beiore the order is given to start the steam pump D and commence t ie inflation a preliminary order may remore the ilastenings Gr and We can then effeet the commencement of the inflation by a lower press 'te of the air. lf this is a step in serioushusiness but found later to be not Wanted. itfis easy 'to rcfold the bags and to place them in their receptacles anduby slight' strings to lightly refasten the covers again imtil the vessel arrives where more material drive it because there is and skilled help Will. restore the'easily infiatable condition.

The drawingl Fig.. 2: shows in a ionr folded bags, each in a horizontal plane with a cover hinged at one side tothe vbulkhead' and vcapable of rising to liberate the .bag at the .other side. The lifted posilines tion is shown in one on the lower deck in y dotted lines. Another arrangement maybe to hold the folded fiat parcels overhead.y In such form of the invention the shallow recesses a in' 'which they sit are in the ceiling and hold the bags therein eachv in a horizontal dat parcel. They may be in any positions `found convenient in any particular svle oi vessel.

nari-roc; from the principle or sacrificing the ilfl'oditications may be made -Without dey.

in 'I noemen of safety may be used in addition to these. The covers when of wood may be used to `form. rafts and thus aid to leavethe vesseln vIn parts of some vessels, as under the lower 4berth in acabin, the covers may be dispensed with and the rightly folded and connected bags may lie absolutely free and in sight or concealed only by a curtainready to slowly on'rapidly emerge and rise when the air is received. l i v The same apparatus if its use is postponed until after the vessel has sunk to the bottom may be yet of important service. In addition to any other means applied of raising the vessel and holding her supported While the toW travels with vher to a convenient harbor, my bags and connections may be made of use with suiicient power at command by sending a diver down and having him make a tight connection to the reservoir and then by a' ireboat or other vessel assisting, sending down air through the hose thus combined. :At any moderate depth this invention may be Worked in this Way.

Parts may be used Without the whole. LAidditions-may be made. The controlling pipes J may be larger than shown.

I claim as my, invention: l. A vessel having partially inclosed re- !ceptacles of little depth distributed in its interior, liexible air-tight bags correspond adapted for direc ingly distributed, said receptacles holding such bags compactly folded and also maintaining piovisions through which each bag may easily escape on being expanded With air, pipes arranged to connect the Whole or any part With air supplying means, and mechanism controllable from a single point ng the air into any bags as required.

.2. In air-tight bags for ioatin vessels folded compactly for storage. on t e vessel eachy independently of the others, yielding cushions serving for packing, in the interiors ofthe folds, arranged to canse the material to curve and avoid being sharply folded.

3. A vesseha series of air-tight bags there in, a reservoir and hose to carry air under gentle pressure to the whole of the series or to a p'artvthereof as desired, one valve for each bag adapted to Work when liberated at a distant point and-deliver air into the bag land prevent its return,I and another valve for each bag -of a c0nstruct-ionadapted to resist automatic delivery in either direction,

a spring tending to move the latter valve and provisions' for moving such valve against the pressure of the spring at will.

WILLIAM A BERT RUPPERT. Witnesses: i

BENJ. F. THOMAS, THoMAs DREW STErsoN. 

